Tommy's Tale
by Sweepo
Summary: I wondered how one of the other Cobra Kai would view the events of that tournament. If the tale wags it will progress.
1. Chapter 1

Tommy's Tale.

At first it seemed like any other December Sunday. He'd awoken, albeit with a nagging headache and a sense of foreboding. He'd showered, made conversation with his parents and eaten a hearty breakfast.

It was only after he'd spent half an hour on his hair using the side mirror of his bike that the events of the previous evening came flooding back.

The afternoon had started the same as any other tournament; they'd travelled to the All Valley Sports Centre, donned their sleeveless gi (for intimidation) and jogged around the mats. Then it happened.

Their mortal enemy was changing alone, Tommy's mind flashed back to the beating he and his Cobra Kai had taken at the hands of the old man. There was still a dull ache in his arm from where he'd been thrown to the ground, watching as his entire quiver of cobras was dispatched. He noticed the smooth fluid moves of the man he now knew as Miyagi as he'd laid out the guys.

Before anyone could say anything, the squad sadist, Dutch, had walked into the section of the locker room that contained Daniel LaRusso. Breaking the promise they'd all reluctantly made to their sensei, Dutch was taunting Daniel, starting with their nickname for him, progressing to ridicule of his inability to don his gi and finally threats and a shove into a treatment bench. Fortunately for LaRusso a tournament official had arrived sending the boys slithering back to their own spot. Tommy wondered if La Russo would even make it to the mats.

Deciding nothing good could come of replaying the previous day's events he'd decided on a ride to the beach but it wasn't that easy to dismiss what had happened on those red mats (with white fists). It really wasn't easy.

The tournament had started in its usual way, the lesser fighters had been thinned out and surprisingly La Russo had progressed through the preliminaries to meet him and his compatriots.

The first of the cobra's to meet La Russo had been Kreese's token minority student 'Robinson'. After a practice match beating from Bobby in the dojo his confidence was shot and he was imperiously swept aside. Jimmy had offered little more resistance and then it was Tommy's turn.

The match had commenced with a trade of points, for all his sensei's usual pro-brawling bluster Tommy's style looked more scientific with an open hand style but it hadn't been much use. Despite utilising this to land a lethal looking punch to La Russo's ribcage (that could take some tape to fix) he'd lost the deciding point and his chance at revenge for the beating he'd taken at Halloween. As he screamed in frustration he'd noticed Dutch and their sensei exchanging surprised looks of concern.


	2. Chapter 2

This was the dullest part of a tournament day. You'd been beaten in a single elimination match up and you had to sit around waiting for the dojo's 'stars' to complete their programme. Usually that meant the finals of whatever tournament they were at as Bobby and Johnny were likely to make the latter stages again. It also meant avoiding the glare of his Sensei who required total Cobra domination of the finals brackets. This year, however there was the spanner in the works, La Russo.

Pausing for thought Tommy decided to predict an outcome. He listed the fighters he knew were still in. Dutch, sadistic but not much more than a 5th round or quarter finalist. Johnny the king cobra and the All-Valley defending champ. Daryl Vidal (of the Lotus Valley Karate Club) who went out in the brackets to Johnny the previous year but who had already beaten the dojo's fat kid with a sneaky back kick. Bobby Brown who'd lost in the final the previous year and of course La Russo. The kid had turned up with his mommy.

Shaken from his musings Tommy had noticed that Dutch had drawn La Russo in his quarter-final match. Being the good little worm that he was Daniel had bowed deeply to all concerned whereas Dutch had barely acknowledged his opponent.

Shockingly the vicious Dutch had failed to do much against Daniel. Despite landing his favourite move (he called it his recoil kick) Daniel had beaten him by a margin of 3-1. Tommy knew this would enrage Kreese as he didn't want either the slope or the wop to win, he had said as much in a pre tournament huddle.

As there was a pause between the quarter and semi finals, Tommy decided to take a wander around the All-Valley Stadium. After talking to various fighters he knew from other clubs he had bought a soda and a corn dog from the concession stand, how was that vendor still in business? Fighting off the early onset of indigestion, he continued towards the central mats where he knew the last 3 matches of the day would take place to check out the so-called final four.

Since Dutch's shock loss to Daniel, the last three matches had been finalised. Johnny would face Vidal and La Russo had drawn the Cobra no 2, Bobby. This was looking like payback for the soccer trials where Bobby had been tagged hard by Daniel in an off the ball incident. As it was time for the matches Tommy moved into his dojo's ranks and took up a place with Jerry and Dutch. After waving to Barbara of course.

Each fighter was preparing for their match in different yet appropriate ways. Vidal was loosening up with his sensei, doing long flowing strike preparation, Johnny was talking to Kreese, seemingly unconcerned, Bobby was on the bench with the rest of the dojo and La Russo was hanging back with his teacher. He noticed that Daniel was heavily taped under his arm. With a chuckle Tommy remembered he'd done that.


	3. Chapter 3

Tommy's Tale III.

So the day continued. The announcer confirmed the matches and they prepared for the action.

First up was Johnny vs Daryl Vidal. The two fighters were well matched but had totally different styles. Vidal had all the moves whereas Johnny's was comparatively straight forward. After some loud encouragement to both fighters and a reminder that Johnny had been victorious the previous year the fight was on.

The first point went to Johnny in an exchange of basic moves culminating in a pulled punch whilst Vidal was down.

The second exchange started in a very different way. Vidal went airborne from the start signal, throwing aerial kicks and forcing Johnny to the edge of the mat. Tommy wondered why Kreese had never taught any of these techniques and almost missed the outcome of the point. It went to Johnny after Vidal had telegraphed a fourth flying wheel kick and Johnny had caught him with a simple but vicious kick to the chest as he'd landed.

The third point had gone back to basics but Vidal didn't manage to land a telling blow on Johnny in this flurry either. Tommy had half expected this as he'd been there the year before. He'd also sniggered when he saw the look on La Russo's face at this result. Clearly he'd hoped Vidal would do him a favour by beating Johnny but all of Vidal's sizzle had produced no steak.

Now for the La Russo burial thought Tommy. He knew how good Bobby was and that he needed no extra incentive to win. The only chink in his armour was his tendency to break the 3rd Cobra Commandment as he'd seen at the Halloween fight. It was therefore a shock to hear his Sensei's pre match pep talk. Bobby had been confident of winning but Kreese completely squashed his idea of an all Kai final despite Bobby claiming he could beat La Russo.

"I don't want him beaten, out of commission."

"But I'll be disqualified!"

"Out of commission!"

So a deflated Bobby had walked sullenly to the mat. Tommy had questioned his allegiance after hearing the earlier exchange. Why was Kreese protecting Johnny at the expense of Bobby? Was he that worried about La Russo winning? Was there something wrong with their training? Tommy forced his doubts down into the gnawing pit of his stomach (that corn dog) and shouted his encouragement along with another Cobra who yelled. "Do what you gotta do Bobby!"

Both fighters took up their fighting stance. The referee warned them to watch the control and the match was on.

Tommy was still blown away by what happened next.


	4. Chapter 4

Oops I forgot the standard disclaimer, **I don't own any of the characters and am writing this for mere amusement.**

Tommy had expected La Russo and Bobby to swap a few punches and kicks with points alternating between the two before Bobby emerged victorious. The only possible complication was that Bobby still owed Daniel for the incident at the soccer trial but since the events of the Halloween dance Tommy was pretty certain the match would be fierce but clean. He wished he could impart some of his own sneakiness to Bobby, preferably over a warm beer; he was the kind of guy the others could rely on for low-down dirty tricks having once loosened the fuel cap on a competitor's machine before a dirtbike race.

Well he was half right, it was fierce.

Bobby had edged forward, dominating the mat as their Sensei had taught them. Tommy thought Bobby would probably attempt to work on La Russo's previous in the style of his wrestling heroes The Minnesota Wrecking Crew but what happened next had shocked everyone in the arena...

Except one.

Before the worm could do much more than slither forward a few inches Bobby had gone airborne but rather than follow the example of the vanquished Vidal he had brought his right foot down hard onto Daniel's left leg. Tommy knew this had been Kreese's influence at work but was surprised that Bobby had gone along with it given his attempt to stop the Halloween beating. The ensuing events made much more sense. Bobby had rushed over and insisted he hadn't meant what had happened and Tommy actually believed him. In a sudden flash of his usual character he'd also thought "Why didn't Sensei ask me or Dutch to cripple La Russo in the earlier rounds?"

Kreese had really dropped the ball tactically and was now clapping as La Russo was carried from the ring in an attempt to throw off any suspicion. Tommy felt his face betray his confusion as he looked towards his Sensei. He saw Johnny with a similarly puzzled look.

Time passed. The arena had descended into the usual hubbub of conversation but the topic amongst the lesser Cobras was simple. How had La Russo gotten so good so quickly? Tommy had guessed that there was a new training method but he couldn't quite put his finger on how it had been delivered. Sure all the guys had gotten in their favourite moves but in standard exchanges La Russo had been their equal. It was almost as if Miyagi had given him a no frills technique but hammered every basic move into him so well that his muscles remembered everything without consulting his brain. He recalled a history class on the American Plains Indians stressing white victory due to quality of their weapons over the redskins sheer numbers (he'd fallen asleep for how the Indians got the horse).

Has it been 15 minutes yet?


	5. Chapter 5

Tommy's Tale V.

Time dragged.

Fifteen minutes felt like forever. Almost time enough to read the All-Valley rulebook.

Feedback from the house mic jerked Tommy from his thoughts; the MC was at long last making an announcement.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment we've been waiting for, the presenta.."

A blonde blur had rushed onstage and stopped the MC mid word.

So much for the sweetest sentence in the English language, winner by default. It looked like Johnny would have to earn his 'threepeat' after all. Time for the burial of La Russo was nigh. Tommy wished he was the one delivering the coup de grace to Danielle's ambitions but then again he was a natural agitator and had been reminded by Bobby that he was indirectly responsible for the whole situation.

Come to think of it where was Bobby?

Tommy pushed his uneasy curiosity from his mind and concentrated on the match.

Oddly, the first point went to Daniel. Johnny had thrown a flurry of strikes but the worm had blocked them all, scoring with his only attack of the exchange. He'd landed a reverse punch as Johnny had been finishing his follow through from a kick.

Tommy remembered shouting that it was OK.

The second point also went to La Russo. Again Daniel had blocked a couple of strikes but this time he'd rolled through the supporting leg to deliver a chop to the occiput forcing Johnny's nose into the mat. Why was Johnny taking a beating like this and was La Russo targeting his nose? Begrudgingly Tommy realised if it was true Danielle had learnt to prey on other's weakness he was more like him than he cared to admit. Come to think of it was Ally being on the floor for the earlier matches a ploy too?

Luckily the referee had noticed the blood on Johnny's nose and sent him to Kreese for treatment.

Pretending to wipe away the blood Kreese had told Johnny to sweep the leg but Johnny had looked vacantly until Kreese asked him if he'd a problem. What were the Cobras going to do if Johnny lost and who was he going to play the role of malevolent court jester to?

Kreese's pep talk looked like it had helped. The next point went to Johnny who had suckered Daniel in with a feint before delivering a simple kick to his head. Tommy was so relieved he'd almost burst roaring his approval. Surely now Johnny's mind was right and the scare was over.

The next point evened the match with Johnny delivering a kick to La Russo while he was on the ground. Nice move but why wasn't he sweeping the leg? Had Johnny grown a conscience? Damn useless things Tommy thought.

The next exchange was an absolute clusterfuck. Flurries of moves and blocks were executed with Daniel waving an arm like a drunken fence painter and Johnny throwing more attacks to La Russo's injured wheel. Johnny even looked to have won the point with a strike to La Russo's face but the ref had ruled it a clash. Then it got darker.

Following the clash Johnny must've decided to sample the dish Bobby had served up. The worm had actually attacked with a kick and Johnny had driven an elbow into his knee. This broke the tournament rule on light (and I do mean light) contact to the knees. As a result Johnny drew a warning and Tommy felt compelled to order a body bag for Danielle with a trademark snicker.

Right idea but the wrong recipient, Tommy couldn't believe the outcome.

Johnny went back to his Cobra stance with shouts of encouragement ringing in his ears. All of Kreese's hackneyed mantras were thrown in, 'no mercy' and 'way of the fist' were heard along with a terse. "Finish him!" That was unsurprisingly from Kreese.

Meanwhile Danielle was standing on one leg like a flamingo in a gi. Johnny closed in but for some reason he was hesitant with his guard lower than usual. As a result Daniel's only available move, a kick from his injured leg had caught him flush on the chin. La Russo had not only won he'd beaten all of the Cobra's top fighters.

Kreese was going to go apeshit. The crowd rushed the mats and Tommy wanted the floor to swallow him up. Surprisingly Johnny was up and presenting the trophy to La Russo himself. Magnanimous, but why? Tommy felt an urgent gnawing in his guts. Was it adrenalin, food poisoning or the thought of Kreese's wrath?


	6. Chapter 6

Tommy's Tale VI.

My apologies if this section is essentially a retelling of events but it is a necessary evil. Previous ownership disclaimer still applies.

After the chaos of the presentation Tommy had sauntered to the locker room. He'd showered and dressed a few feet from Daniel (who wanted to talk tournament strategy with Miyagi) before making his way to the Cobra Kai 'battlebus' aka Kreese's station wagon. When he arrived he found he'd walked into trouble.

Bobby and Jimmy, with Dutch lurking in the background were listening as their Sensei delivered the bollocking of a lifetime to Johnny. Johnny was attempting to stand his ground but Tommy could tell it wasn't going his way.

Kreese had just scratched Johnny from the team and called him a loser. Johnny had held out his trophy only for it to be snatched away and destroyed. Then things took a turn for the worse.

With the light of insanity in his eyes, the man they'd all looked up to had grabbed his erstwhile champion in a chokehold. Tommy heard Bobby plead Johnny's case and saw him step forward only to walk into a back fist to the belly.

It was at that point that Tommy felt like he was having an out of body experience. He'd attempted to reason with the madman pleading that Johnny was sorry and telling Kreese he was hurting him. At first this had gained him a terse 'mind your business' but then as he had shakily stepped forward he received a stinging shot to the cheek. Falling to the ground with his sports bag under him he'd witnessed another strange turn of events.

Kreese had continued to choke out Johnny with Jimmy in shock and Dutch hiding under a ball cap when an unlikely hero had stepped up. From his vantage point on the ground Tommy had an incredible view of the action.

With LaRusso hobbling along behind him clutching his trophy Mr Miyagi had interjected himself. At first concerned for his own safety (nobody wants to be on the end of a boot meant for someone else) Tommy started to gain respect for the little Okinawan who was getting in Kreese's face.

The man they had encountered that fateful Halloween night had calmly walked up to their teacher and ordered him to let Johnny go. The ever classy Kreese had resorted to a racial slur and a threat at which point Mr Miyagi had broken the chokehold, probably saving Johnny's life. Tommy was starting to like Miyagi but was worried that Kreese was about to wipe the parking lot with him. He was after all younger, larger and probably both fitter and faster than the Asian.

Surprisingly Tommy's fears were unfounded. Kreese had underestimated his opponent throwing two powerful yet clumsy punches that had broken car windows but Miyagi had side stepped both blows. At this point Tommy knew what he'd have done but was shaken by the idea that Miyagi might do the same. Grabbing Kreese by his curls he'd raised his hand to deliver a blow of his own Miyagi had simultaneously reiterated his foe's mantra to him. He then threw a wicked looking chop towards Kreese's bug eyed face but stopped a hair's breadth from contact before merely tweaking his nose and making a honking noise. At this point tournament officials had finally arrived behind Pat the referee and broken up the trouble. At this juncture Tommy and Johnny had gotten to their feet and as one with Bobby and Jimmy they had taken their belts from their bags before dropping them at Kreeses prone face. Tommy's last glimpse of the victorious Miyagi Do had seen them walking into the distance talking about a restaurant and keeping the ladies waiting. Was Miyagi 'doing' Mrs LaRusso?


	7. Chapter 7

Tommy's Tale 7 (VII)

Apologies for brevity but this is a bridge between canon and slightly original writing. The usual disclaimers apply.

Shaking himself from his reverie and the image of Miyagi putting it to Lucille (he was kinky not sick) Tommy remembered he was missing something. The previous night he, Bobby, Jimmy and Johnny had dropped their black belts at the face of the defeated Kreese to the approval of the onlookers. Dutch had slunk off into the night and was still apparently MIA whereas the rest of them had called Jimmy's parents for a ride home. Tommy was of course grateful to them but his mind had slunk back to his belt, he'd earned it after all. Why should he lose it because his sensei was a jerk?

Foregoing his usual warm beer or three Tommy decided to try and regain his trophy. He roared off up the strip despite the weekend traffic and a nagging bellyache arriving shortly after at the arena. The belts weren't on the ground so he had buzzed the janitor who told him they were on the table in his office. Thinking of his belt holder at home Tommy grabbed for his prize only to feel a searing pain in his guts before everything faded to black with the last sound he heard the janitor dialling 911.


	8. Chapter 8

Tommy's Tale 8 (VIII)

Tommy awoke to the faint aroma of lotus blossom and the sound of wind chimes. The room, or more accurately area, was devoid of furniture other than his bed and stretched out to the horizon like an infinity pool stretches downward.

Unexpectedly he felt the hair on his arms rise due to an unexpected presence. He rolled over in his bed and stared into the demonically altered face of Mr Miyagi.

"Hello Thomas san, welcome to your worst nightmare. Sorry Miyagi little joke. You are confused?"

"Confused? More like bewildered. It's like Russia, a riddle in an enigma in a mystery."

"First lesson, this is kabuki makeup. Miyagi' sweetheart teach. The black is for fear."

"It works."

"You want to know why we're here Thomas san?"

"I want to know everything. How, why, where, when, what and who?"

"You are at the bottom of the Glasgow scale; you are close to death as you're suffering from peritonitis. The corn dog and the beers combined with your Sensei's attack helped rupture your appendix."

"Am I dead, are you here to take me to….?"

"No Miyagi not psycho, when you tried to save Johnny you earned much merit."

"But but I'm not a Buddhist."

"Neither is Miyagi, recent conversion, Lord Jesus Christ tell Miyagi to help boy as not his time. Now am here to give advice before you go back."

"I think I'm gonna need all the advice I can get but can you please change the music?"

"OK, wheels are turning, now the help."

Tommy looked at him expectantly.

Miyagi smiled and said, "look after your brothers and watch this," before honking his nose and vanishing.


End file.
